DTW, MICHIGAN -- My daughter and a friend were flying from Detroit Metro airport to Dallas-Fort Worth, scheduled to leave on Wednesday, June 13th on flight 701 - leaving Detroit at 7:15 p.m. and arriving in Dallas at 9:07 p.m. Both children are 14 years of age. That being said, below I am outlining a series of events:

I called into NWA when looking to book these flights and I was told that as long as my daughter was 14 she did not have to be an "accompanied minor". When they arrived to check in at the airport we were told differently. They must be 15. So, we had to pay an additional $50 for them to be accompanied which is fine. They then instructed my husband, who was escorting the girls, that he would have to walk them to their gate - nothing more. They did not tell him he needed to stay with them.

He assumed NWA would look after the girls from that point on - assuming that the fee we paid would cover this. My husband safely got both girls to their gates and left. We are responsible parents, and if we would have known differently he would have stayed with them up to the boarding of the plane.

At 7:30 we get a call from our daughter that they still have not boarded the plane. Odd since the flight was to have left 15 minutes ago. Come to find out, the gate they were flying out of had been changed and no one at NWA informed our daughter and her friend of this change. What really concerns me here is that the flight leaving should have known there were (2) unaccompanied minors on this flight (we did pay for this service). However, they made no attempt to locate them or track them down.

I think any reasonable person would assume that they could possibly still be at the original departing gate, did not get notified, or realize there was a gate change and call the original gate to see if they were still there waiting. No one did. Another option would be to try to page them overhead to track them down. This did not happen either. Instead the plane left, knowing there were to be two unaccompanied minors on the plane who were not on board and then made no effort to track them down.

They are now stranded in Detroit airport. My husband then gets a phone call from a NWA representative indicating that our daughter was there at the airport and he needed to come get her. She was rude in her tone. My husband didn't understand and said, "You are calling me in Lansing, MI". I can't just come right down there and get her I'm two hours away (he needed to think of some other arrangement).

The NWA representative on the phone then stated, rudely, "If you don't come and get her then I'm calling child protective services". This is NOT the way to talk to a paying customer or handle such an unfamiliar and scary situation - especially when your child is stuck in the Detroit airport and you are 2 hours away.

My husband then asked for the NWA representatives name and she replied, "My boss will be back in soon, you can talk to him then," again my husband asked for her name, "she repeated the statement above and then HUNG UP ON HIM. Again, our main concern still is our daughter in Detroit. He calls our daughter and asks her if the woman he was just talking to was wearing a name tag and she said yes. He asked her to get the name. Her name was **. That's all we had to go on.

My husband is then instructed that he needed to fax over a letter to have the girls released to his sister and brother-in-law. My husband faxes it over and when our brother-in-law shows up he is told they cannot be released to him and that it must be the sister. So, he is calling his sister and making arrangements for her to go to the airport to get our girls. My husband calls back the brother-in-law to tell him that his sister is on the way and the brother-in-law says, "then just released them to me". This kind of like seems like "does the hand know what the foot's doing".

Since then we had to get the girls rebooked on a flight for the next day. We ask for the early flight, but told there is no room until the 12:22 flight - getting into Dallas at 2:07. So now, we need to make arrangements for another adult to get these girls back to the Detroit airport, escort them to the gate and wait with them. This means asking someone to take the time off of work, the extra expense of gas (we have to pay out of our own pocket the gas money for the other mother to drive all the way from Lansing to Detroit and back to do this).

I then go to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport to collect their luggage. My daughter's luggage arrives, but her friend's does not. I then had to wait in a long line at the airport at 9:00 at night to track the other luggage down. As I'm talking to the representative I tell her the flight they will be coming in on (so we can make sure the luggage arrives on that flight or beforehand) and she tells me "They are not booked on the 12:22 flight, they re-booked them on the 7:15 p.m. flight for the next day".

I told her we were told it was the 12:22 flight, that I have already made arrangements down here to get off work to pick them up and now you are telling me they are scheduled again on the later flight? I did not want this - just in case circumstances got them delayed or missed their flight they could have the option of still getting on a later flight if there was availability. I then had to double check her screen to make sure this time they were booked on the correct flight. At this point, I'm very concerned how this next leg of the trip is going.

Update since 6/14/07 letter: The next day the mother who is responsible for getting the girls to the airport arrives to check them in "as unaccompanied minors" and is told she has to pay the $50 fee. She states this fee was already paid yesterday. They tell they do not have a record of this being paid. She then gets my husband on the phone and he begins to give them his credit card information again to pay another $50 fee.

The mother escorting the girls looks at one of the boarding passes and realizes that it is a receipt for "unaccompanied minors" service. She shows them the receipt. Thankfully, we had this otherwise Northwest would have charged us another $50 because they never kept a record of it.

The girls arrive in Dallas and we go to get the other luggage that never arrived the night before and it is not there. We make a claim in the lost luggage area and the lady we are talking to asks us what the suitcase looks like. She then tells us they located it in Detroit. She asked us to physically describe the contents, which we did successfully. We had a match. She made the request to have the luggage shipped up and that we would have the luggage by the afternoon the next day. The luggage never arrived. We called again to follow up on us this, and it turns out they lost the luggage AGAIN. That it was never requested and that there is no available information or status.

On 6/16 at 10:00 a.m. I call again and talk to a ** who indicates there is still no status. I tell him these girls have no clothes to wear or change into, especially since they were stranded since the previous Wed. in Detroit in the same clothes. I ask him will NWA reimburse me for any expense to go buy at least some clean underwear and maybe a pair of shorts to hold us over. He tells me "Well, you do have the $50 a day the first day and $25 each day after to cover you." I told him no one ever told me this was an option. It is now 3 days since they were stranded in Detroit and I'm just being told this?

I call back on 6/16 at 2:00 p.m. and talk to a ** and reiterate our story and tell her that I need to go get the clothes to replace for these girls. I tell her that the suitcase that was lost contained all of the clothes of one girl and ½ the clothes of the other girl. I asked her if I could get reimbursement for both girls. She puts me on hold, comes back and tells me her supervisor has approved an additional $150 dollars for replacement clothes. I asked, "is this in addition to the standard allowance of the $50 the first day and $25 each additional day?" She said "yes". I reiterated "so close to $300?" She said "yes".

I asked her if this would be documented somewhere, as I have not been having good luck with NWA and I'm concerned that if I go and spend the money I may not get reimbursed. She puts me on hold, comes back tells me her supervisor ** has made a note in the system. I then go shopping and purchase approximately $300 worth the clothes and go to the airport at 6:30 p.m. on the 16th to get reimbursement. When I show up they tell me they are only authorized to reimburse for $150, that that is standard and the most that can ever get approved.

I ask why then was I told differently and gave the names of the people I talked to. He called a supervisor over and she indicated the same, that they could only reimburse the $150 and they were not authorized to reimburse for more. I then ask them to please call the supervisor that approved it. We call the luggage 1-800 number and ask for ** the supervisor who I was told originally approved this. I get ** the supervisor (in Minnesota). I reiterate my entire story and he tells me the same. I ask him to please talk to ** as she did authorize this.

He gets back on the phone and tells me ** thought it was only for $150 that she was reimbursing, not an additional $150. I then ask the guy at the DFW luggage counter if he could trying calling Detroit and tracking down the suitcase. He calls Detroit and they locate it. He tells me he put a request in to have the luggage sent and that we should receive the next day. It never arrived. I keep calling, checking the status, and nothing. I am now frustrated and $300 in debt than before.

I call on 6/20, by this time it is over 5 days old and I was told that once it is more than 5 days they will start calling around for it. I call the customer service line for lost luggage to use the automatic tracking service, service cannot locate it and I am automatically transferred to a customer service rep.

I get a ** (located in Chisholm) and she tells me that she needs to fax me a claim form and that she will fax it over to me right away, that I can complete it, and fax it back. I ask her about getting reimbursed for replacing the clothes. I tell her again about how it is one lost suitcase, but two people's items, which means I need to replace clothing for two people.

She said that it was noted in the computer that both girls were missing clothing and that I could be reimbursed for both girls and that reimbursement is per ticketed passenger. That means $50 each the first 24 hours and then $25 for each day after for each girl. I have yet to go get reimbursed, but honestly I don't have much confidence that this is how it will play out.

The fax that ** indicates she is sending NEVER arrives. I call back and get a new customer service rep. I tell her about my previous call and that I never received the fax. She tells me she is confused because they have no way of faxing anything and that they don't handle the claim forms and they are only the backup service for lost luggage. Frustrated, I hang up and call the other 1-800 number for luggage lost over 5 days. I get a ** (located at headquarters in Minnesota). She was the rudest by far that I have dealt with over the last few days. She gets my information, puts me on hold and comes back saying they have the suitcase in Detroit and will have it shipped to me.

As I explain to her that I've been told this before and begin to tell her my story she cuts me off and starts talking over me. I spend a ½ hour trying to give her the information; she keeps cutting me off or not listening. She tells me they only show one girl and not two girls whose clothes are missing.

They have the wrong address, the wrong phone number; I correct them. I tell her I'm frustrated and I need her to listen to me. She replies, "I don't know why you are so upset, you should just be happy that I found the bag!" I'm thinking you're kidding right??!! I should be happy after what I went through??? Not very good customer service when you can't even relate or justify my feelings or frustrations.

6/22/2007, the saga continues. My daughter and her friend were to fly out today at Noon. Because they are traveling as unaccompanied minors I had to make special arrangements for someone to take them to the airport, stay with them until their flight left, and arrange for someone to be there to pick them up. Everything was all set.

AT midnight, the night before (last night), I get a call from NWA telling me the flight is canceled! They have to put them on an early morning flight and I need to give them a commitment right then. Nice. I now have to have the girls packed, ready to fly out, and get a hold of the two people responsible for taking them to the airport and picking them up at Midnight, and the person taking them now has to be here in a matter of 6 hours.

My girls who are still awake now must finish up any unfinished packing, get to bed and be up in less than 5 hours to catch a flight. This was not a good way to end the trip. Fortunately, I was able to get the mother to re-arrange her schedule (from work) to get to the Detroit airport to pick them up 4 hours earlier than originally planned. I pray this last leg of the trip is uneventful, and just glad my time with dealing with NWA is over.

I forgot to mention. Went to the airport last night to get reimbursed for the clothes I bought. I was told I would be reimbursed $50 for "each ticketed passenger" the first day and $25 each additional day for each ticketed passenger. I reiterated on the phone that it was only one suitcase lost, but that it contained the clothes of two people. Customer service reiterated I should not have a problem as reimbursement if per ticketed passenger and not # of luggage.

I get to the airport - they will only reimbursed me $150 for one person. They tell me the policy is only a maximum of $150. So why didn't the person on the phone tell me this? Second trip to the airport to get reimbursed (more gas and time) and I'm now another $250 in the whole (their replaced clothes actually came close to $400).

Right now I don't have much confidence in NWA nor am I impressed with your customer service. When will the suitcase arrive? I have no idea? Will I ever get reimbursed for the replacement clothing? I have no idea. Right now I doubt either will happen. I don't have much confidence in NWA!

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The worst airline experience ever

By sage1028 - 01/02/2007

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- I had the misfortune of flying Northwest on my holiday trip. I travel about every other month, so I'm not a huge traveller, but I'm not a newbie to flying either. Since you asked, here is the basic outline of my nightmare. I made the mistake of booking my reservation through Expedia.com and I bought a terrible ticket. The first leg of the trip was from Chicago to Denver on December 23rd, 2006. It was just a couple of days after the blizzard, but that flight went off (almost) without a hitch. It was almost an hour late, but I blamed it on the blizzard. And like I said, I travel pretty often and flights are almost always an hour late, so I'm used to it.

The nightmare started on my return trip. I was scheduled to fly back to Chicago on December 29th, 2006. You got it, the news was predicting another blizzard to hit just as my flight was scheduled to take off. The return flight was booked on Continental, but the fine print at the bottom informed me that the flight was being operated by Northwest.

All three airlines' websites said there was a "weather waiver" which would let me rebook the flight either 24 hours before or 24 hours after the initial reservation. Here's where it all began. I called Continental, the airline that my flight was booked on, they told me to call Northwest. I called Northwest, the agent couldn't find my reservation, but I managed to get a hold of a supervisor that gave me a reservation number. She suggested I call back the next day for an update. I agreed to do that.

It was the day of my flight. My flight was scheduled to leave at 7:00 PM, just when the storm was supposed to hit. I called Northwest, as I was instructed and reached someone who demanded that I call United, since they held the initial ticket. Once again, I asked to speak to a supervisor. She very rudely informed me that "This isn't a supervisor issue." I was persistent, and again asked for a supervisor. She said, "I don't have a supervisor." and hung up on me.

I called United. I thought I had reached someone who was willing to help me until he told me it would cost nearly $700 to rebook! I called Expedia. They told me there was nothing they could do and transferred me back to United and they told me to call Continental. This runaround went on for a full four hours until I finally reached an agreeable person at Northwest. She rebooked me on a flight that was scheduled to leave at 3:15, with a layover in Detroit.

At about 3:45, we finally started boarding the 3:15 flight. After about 15 or 20 minutes of sitting on the plane, they informed us that the flight attendants had left the plane because they were flying too many hours. They had to get another crew of flight attendants from Indianapolis. They said we could rebook or fly on the very late flight and spend the night in Detroit, on them.

I went to rebook my flight, and the gate attendant told me there was a flight (my original flight) leaving Denver to Indianapolis and then to Chicago. I asked what would happen to my luggage, and she said "You'll probably have to pick it up at O'Hare tomorrow." I asked why they couldn't deliver it to me. She said, "Maybe, but we don't typically do that when it's because of acts of god." What? The flight attendants walking off the plane is an act of God? Something sounded fishy. I asked the gate attendant to pick up the phone and find out if they would deliver. She said, "No, I will not pick up the phone."

I then began to raise my voice, although I never swore or became abusive in any way. She threatened to call the police and have me escorted out of the airport. She then threatened to tear up my itinerary and make me rebook everything at full fare. Then she said "I've made your decision for you. You're going to Detroit."

The flight arrives in Detroit six hours after the scheduled arrival time. I had to spend the night in a hotel with no luggage, and nothing was open to buy toiletries and something to sleep in. The hotel was only able to provide me with toothpaste and a toothbrush.

I arrive at the gate for my flight from Detroit to Chicago. I am informed that the flight is overbooked and they were asking for volunteers to fly to Midway instead of O'Hare. I didn't drive to the airport, and I leave about equal distance from both, so I didn't mind. I did ask, however, if my luggage will be on the same flight. I was assured and reassured that they caught it in time and it would. I agreed to take that flight if they would upgrade me to first class (even though it's only about an hour long flight). The gate attendant agreed. He also informed me that the flight attendants were under contract negotiation, interesting.

The flight to Midway is delayed because, you got it, a flight attendant was running the risk of going over. I asked a flight attendant if in fact they were under contract negotiation. She confirmed it. I get to Midway, no luggage. I went to the baggage claim person. She took the info and gave me the numbers for baggage claim for both Midway and O'Hare. She also assured me that they will call me before delivering my luggage. She said I should call at about 1:00 if I don't hear from them.

Of course I didn't hear from them, so I called at about 2:00. Midway's number went straight to voicemail. O'Hare's went straight to a FULL voicemail box. I left a message on Midway's. Eventually I got a call back that said my luggage went to O'Hare and they would be calling me. I do finally get my luggage at about 8:00 that evening. Of course there was no phone call. It was just fortunate I was home. Interestingly, there was a bottle of vitamins missing.

I called Northwest's complaint line. I gave her the complete rundown. Her only response was excuses, the weather, the luggage delivery company, etc. When I mentioned that the flight attendants were in contract negotiation, she said "That doesn't have anything to do with it." She offered me either miles or a $100 voucher. I told her that anything less than a free round trip ticket would be unacceptable because I will never give Northwest another dime of my money.

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Total Lack of Customer Care

By Keough - 08/31/2009

ST. PAUL, MICHIGAN -- I am writing concerning travel that occurred on Thursday, August 20th, 2009. I booked flights for my two children, and their significant others, on Northwest Airlines on March 28th, 2009. I booked the flights far in advance to ensure that they could all attend their step-sister's wedding and all of the activities associated with the wedding in Bar Harbor, Maine.

The problem comes in with the airlines. Flight # NW1178 left (STL) and landed at DTW at 12:54 PM on August 20th. They were on the ground. We were tracking the flight status because we were picking them up at Bangor Int'l Airport. They had to wait to get a gate. They all four of them plus 3 additional passengers arrived at their connecting flight before the plane left and at least several minutes before the scheduled departure time. They would not let any of them board the plane.

The airline was aware that their flight was on the ground and should have ensured that all of the passengers made their connection. It was not bad weather it was no act of god, it was simple inefficiency and lack of customer care. Instead none of them were allowed to get on the plane. There are limited options to get to Bangor, Maine.

The result was that they could not get on another flight until the next day, 24 hours and the same flight. However, Northwest Airlines did put their luggage on that flight. Now they are captive in Detroit with no luggage. Northwest said they were not responsible for paying for their hotel, and for the four of them, gave them 100.00 in Airport vouchers for food and told them that they could stay for free at the airport.

Meanwhile back in Bar Harbor, Maine. They missed a family get together on Thursday evening, August 20th. Additionally they missed the family whale watching expedition the next morning. There were two rooms reserved for them in Bar Harbor, Maine, which also were not occupied. I cannot tell you how disappointing it was to not have them arrive on schedule.

These plans were made for a long time, and we had been looking forward to having all five of our children and their spouses and significant others together for a long weekend. Our children live all over the country and it is not often that they are all together, so this was especially difficult. If bad weather had been the problem, that is something not under the control of Northwest Airlines. Ensuring passengers made their connections when the flight is on the ground is under the control of Northwest Airlines.

I made the reservations almost five months in advance yet Northwest must have given their seats to other passengers instead of allowing them to get on the plane which was still on the ground and did not depart the gate for at least 15 additional minutes. Otherwise there was no reason for them not to get on that plane as I mentioned their luggage was put on the plane so that tells you there was ample time for them to get on that plane. I expect restitution from Northwest Airlines for this total lack of basic customer service. They were not even treated kindly at the gate and were pretty much told there was nothing they could do about it.

There is something Northwest Airlines can do and that is refund the cost of the tickets. The Airline did not deliver the service that was expected and therefore I expect that at the very least. There is no price that can be put on the fact that they missed out on 24 hours of this special weekend.

Let me contrast this to an experience that My husband and I had with Northwest early on a Saturday morning, October 27th, 2007. We were flying from St. Louis to Chicago and then on to Ottawa, Canada. Our flight in St. Louis left over an hour late due to a flight attendant being ill, and they had to get a replacement for her. By the time we landed in Chicago, we only had 10 minutes to make it to another terminal across the tarmac to get to our next flight. They held the flight, when we arrived at the gate they said you must be the **. I don't understand why the same courtesy was not extended to my children. It was a much more significant trip and had lasting results.

Northwest Airlines needs to understand that this type of customer treatment and lack of care has long reaching effects. The airline should always strive to ensure that passengers make their connections if their flights are on the ground in time. There is no reason for this type of treatment. I called Customer Service and was treated rudely again, the customer service representative would not let me finish explaining my complaint. I did get upset and he hung up the phone. Distressed customer.

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The Worst Service Ever

By dollarbill4u - 03/11/2009

LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS -- I would like to report my experience and concerns about what happened after Northwest flight 293 landed at 8:56pm in Little Rock, Arkansas on February 28, 2009. After waiting for our bags for more than 30 minutes I and 20-30 other passengers were told by a Northwest baggage handler at 9:40pm that there were no more bags coming. That person instructed us to go to the Northwest ticket counter to file lost baggage claims. For some reason Northwest Airlines has no lost baggage office at the Little Rock Airport.

Our large group left the baggage carousel and proceeded to the NWA ticket counter. When we got to the counter no NWA employees were present. After abut 15 minutes of waiting, many passengers grew agitated and restless, and they left the line to try to find someone to help. Some mentioned that lost baggage claims must be made before a passenger leaves the airport.

My wife left me in line and went to the Little Rock Airport customer care counter, and she asked the airport employee to page someone from Northwest Airlines to go to the ticket counter. That person spoke with someone by phone and reported to my wife that the Northwest employees “were cleaning the plane and would be at the ticket counter in about 10 minutes”. That was at 10:05pm. I was still standing in line at the Northwest ticket counter when my wife came back and told me what the airport customer care person had said. At that point we had all waited about 30 minutes for a Northwest employee to make an appearance, but no one came.

After about 45 minutes of waiting many passengers had left, but some passengers became so irritated that they went behind the Northwest ticket counter and began rifling through papers, using the computer, opening drawers, removing items and looking behind the ticket counter's baggage conveyor into a room, all in an effort to get some help or perhaps vent frustration. There were Continental and US Air ticket counter people present who had to have seen this group of people breaching security but they ignored the situation.

I felt threatened and nervous about this activity, so I asked my wife to look for airport security or the police. She left the line and walked all parts of the airport that she had access to inside and out. There was a Little Rock Police Car parked at the front of the airport but no officer was in it.

My wife finally contacted the same customer care person that she had spoken to earlier, and pleaded with her that there was a security breach and near riot going on at the NWA ticket counter and said “someone needs to get down there immediately”. The customer care person said that she would contact the airport manager again, and that he would contact the NWA employees who were cleaning the plane one more time and ask them to go to the counter.

I was the second person waiting in line that evening, and I finally left at 10:40pm after waiting in line for an hour. During that hour no NWA employees, no Little Rock police and no airport manager ever came to the counter. Some of the passengers were still rifling through things behind the counter, and one of the men when told that he might get arrested for what he was doing said that he didn't care, and that he might break everything back there before he left.

I arrived home about 11:15pm, and I tried to call NWA customer service at 1800-225-2525. I waited on hold for nearly ½ hour and finally gave up. On Sunday morning I called another number on your website (800-745-9798) where I reached a real person. I briefly explained the situation and wanted to know what to do about reporting the lost checked bag. That NWA person said that I would have to go back to the airport to fill out a lost bag claim. I asked for the telephone number for the NWA counter at Little Rock Airport and the customer service person said that she wasn't allowed to give that number to me.

I asked her to call the counter at Little Rock Airport had have someone call me. She said that she couldn't do that either. I asked her again to please help me, and she said that without a lost bag claim number there was nothing she could do. She said, “sir, I am in Minnesota. What do you think I can possibly do to help you retrieve your bag in Little Rock without a claim number?” With that remark I ended the call. I received my checked bag two days later.

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Northwest Is the Very Worst

By ww48 - 05/29/2012

Rating: 1/51

This isn't quite recent but bear with me. A few years back I went cross-country on Northwest and this was the first time I've ever flew. Halfway across the flight, I asked for some coffee. The flight attendant glared at me and look at me like I was Garbage (I never did get any coffee)! Then I was struggling with my luggage, told me to get my act together! Is this the professional service they are supposed to show their customers!? I tried calling their so-called customer service, was put on hold for over an hour then hung up on!! The only way to get even is to tell people NEVER FLY NORTHWEST!!! I HOPE THEY GO OUT OF BUSINESS!!!

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Spend your hard earned money on an airline that actually deserves your business

By Yo40 - 01/20/2010

I thought I got a great deal on my flight from LAX to ICN (South Korea) on Northwest, a part of Delta Airlines. Little did I know, the service quality was going to be so horrible. If you're in economy, forget about asking for anything beyond what they give you. More than half the flight attendants were rude and don't realize that the money we pay for our plane tickets helps pay their salaries. They should reconsider their profession in customer service. They're doing a bad job representing Northwest/Delta.

We were on flight 302 from Tokyo to LAX. There was an older Japanese female flight attendant with bleached blond hair with more attitude than I've seen in all flight attendants put together, although she was friendly towards and joking around with the males on the staff. The worst one of them all was a young Asian male with long spiky hair. The only pleasant flight attendant was a nice, elderly American gentleman who had trouble hearing.

We pressed the FA button to ask for some water b/c we were sitting next to an aisle sitter who had fallen asleep and we didn't want to disturb him by getting up and asking for water. The rude Japanese flight attendant came and gave us water with some attitude on the side. While my bf was waiting for the bathroom, he saw the water pitcher on the cart and poured some into his cup. The young Asian male FA immediately stopped him and told him that was only for business class passengers and that we needed to ask for water.

Maybe if asking for something was met with a little less attitude, we would want to talk to the FA's. When did water become for business class passengers only? With all the recent and upcoming layoffs, I'm thinking Northwest/Delta needs to reconsider employing people who make their company look bad. I know we will never fly Northwest/Delta again, and we will make sure we tell others about our recent, horrible experiences.

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Impossible to contact via phone

By Sparticus - 12/22/2009

Just wanted to share my displeasure with NWA. We are flying out of town today, my wife, our daughter (under 2 years old) and myself. We have 3 seats reserved since we wanted our daughter to have more room for the long flight. Long story short, I wanted to make sure we had 3 seats together.

Logged on to and tried to reserve the seats last night. It showed a few groups of 3 seats available at the time. It would not let me. It kept assigning us random seats all over the plane. So I decide to call NWA and see what was going on. I can't talk to anyone. They were experiencing high call volume and told me to try again later. Fine. It was the evening so I thought I would try this morning.

So this morning comes, I log in to the website. All the seats are now gone. I can't change them. My 15-month-old daughter is now seated alone in the back of the plane. Nice. They know she is under 2 since we had to specify it at the time of reservations.

Anyway, back to my complaint. I try to call NWA again. This time I get through and get their automated response system. It takes me through a series of hoops where it makes me talk to the computer, and the computer tries very hard to understand me by repeating it back 5 times. Each time it messes something else up and starts all over. Finally the computer gets my information correct, and then tells me they are having system problems and they will connect me to an operator. Great! That is all I wanted to begin with.

A few seconds go by, I get a message that they are experiencing high volume of calls and cannot take my call at this time. It hangs up on me. I spent 20 minutes battling the automated system for them to tell me they can't help me. Nice. Hopefully we can get at least two seats together when we check in at the airport. Otherwise I'm going to leave a bottle with the flight attendant and tell her good luck. ;-)

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Northwest Airlines Botches Unaccompanied Minor Travel

By Angry Dad - 08/11/2009

My six-year old son flew for the first time as an unaccompanied minor on Northwest Flight 1549 from Minneapolis to JFK. I was repeatedly assured by NW employees on the phone and at the Minneapolis airport that my son's mother would be allowed and expected to meet him at his gate at JFK. She arrived an hour before the flight with her ID and was told to wait in a specified room and our son would be brought to her.

When she informed the NW employees that she was assured that she would be able to meet him at the gate she was sent to see no fewer than five other employees. When she was finally allowed to go to his gate she was told that my son had been placed on a bus and was being taken to a waiting area at another terminal. He had been assured that his mother would meet him. He was finally brought to her half an hour after his flight had landed. He was, thankfully, fine, resilient lad that he is, but his mother was understandably upset by the events as was I.

After I contacted NW Customer Support at a non-800 number and waited nearly fifteen minutes for an agent, I received an apology and the offer of a hundred dollar flight voucher for a future flight. I explained to the agent ** that I was interested in neither.

What I wanted was for him to take down my complaint and to have someone research the situation and get back to me with an explanation of what happened and why. He informed me that my complaint was being duly noted and would be passed along to the relevant people so that this would not happen again. I responded that my confidence level in NW assurances was not high and wanted someone to get back to me. He said that was not possible but that I could file my complaint online and someone would get back to me.

Surely, it was not impossible for me to receive the service for which I asked, simply inconvenient for him and/or NW. They prefer me to email. I preferred, after their botching the treatment of my son the unaccompanied six year old minor, to speak to a live person and then receive a response, which could have been via email, explaining the how and why of what happened and what steps were being taken to rectify the situation. I didn't want a hollow apology nor a flight voucher from an airline so unwilling to address my request after their screw up.

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Northwest is no longer my carrier

By eric schott - 07/13/2009

I had flown with Northwest for many years while in the military, and then after. I swore by them, and would always tell anyone to fly with Northwest. I would not ever again. We went from Oregon Wisconsin to Memphis, with our final destination being Montego Bay, Jamaica. Our flight in Memphis scheduled to leave at 10 A.M. was cancelled due to crew. 200 and some odd people all going on vacation, honeymoons, or in the case of my brother-in-law going there to get married.

There were 13 of us on that flight who had planned this trip for over a year. NWA cancelled the flight for crew that day in Memphis. Oh yes, they put us all in hotels as there were no other crews or airlines available. Yes, they gave us a meal voucher that would not cover anything, much less make up for the all-inclusive resort we were to have been staying at. They made the bride and groom be forced to be married in Memphis in a makeshift ceremony due to them not being in Jamaica for 48 hours prior to their wedding.

Beyond all of that, they really ruined a vacation for my wife and I, basically ruining 2 days of our vacation, and all we got for it was an extremely rude manager at Memphis, no seat assignments on an overbooked US Airways flight (Kudos to US Airways for making it right and doing EVERYTHING they could to get us there), and a very polite "Go pile sand" letter from the complaint department.

I am in the most polite tone going to say and spread the word just as much as I used to when I would say 'go Fly NWA'. Well now I am saying I will never fly them again, nor would I ever recommend them. I will also NEVER fly Delta as they are now partnered. What a shame that a company can treat its customers this way and not even care. In this time when the economy is the way it is, I find it shocking that an airline would act in this manner.

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They Are Crooks!

By Smart09 - 04/09/2009

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- Okay so tell me why we all 9 family members booked tickets to visit D.C. to go to my uncle's wedding on Friday, & today is now Thursday and our flight WAS for Wednesday. We missed it & thought it was midnight Wed. but it was midnight Tue. which confused us (ESPECIALLY MY PARENTS & RELATIVES WHO BARELY SPEAK ENGLISH) & the associates said that they'd be confused too.

But when we called customer service we go trying to get another flight they tell me that NO we have not missed it, they tell my sister we have and they tell her we need to pay $7,000 dollars first then they tell her we need to. And then after 30 min of being on the phone he changes his mind and says "oh the prices were just raised to $11,000 DOLLARS from SFO to DCA." WOW ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS???

So then they go "no it's $150 per person plus $30.00" which is still too much but when we said OK then he jumped up to $8,000. At this point we are PISSED & now we can't find a cheap flight to fly out today noon so we can get there in time for the pre-wedding dinner & the wedding the next day, not to mention everyone is MAD at me for booking it with these CROOKS. They do this to SCAM MONEY!!! I recommend everyone to NEVER EVER USE NORTHWEST AS THEIR AIRLINES!!!

People like them should rot somewhere trying to use us people that make an honest living unlike them scamming innocent people. I swear anyone who flies with this airline is almost never satisfied because they are scam artists. And we don't get our money back so we just spent almost $3,000 for no reason & now we have to pay $500 per person to go & we don't have that kind of money. You don't want to know how much I cried, I still am. It's heartbreaking how heartless people are. We work hard for our money & there's people like NWA who screw us over. Shame that I live in a world like this.